April Beth Wiles brings her joy and her wisdom to what it is like to be a pastor’s kid. She and Jonathan talk about family dynamics, church dynamics, and the blessings and challenges to being a pastor’s family within the church.

The Deep Conversation

There are a great number of examples of pastor’s kids showing up in popular culture, songs, movies, etc. In addition there is a lore of pastor’s kids stories that different churches share and celebrate – famous or infamous. Many have a perception of the pastor’s kid as being troubled, or perfect, but never in-between. The PK is placed on a pedestal or looked down upon from that pedestal of piety and shunned. Or at least this is how the story is supposed to go.

Yet it is much more complicated than that because not all pastors are the same, not all churches are the same, and not all pastor’s kids are the same. There is not a monolithic narrative that all PKs are expected to fall into no matter what. Yet there are good healthy ways to manage the demands between the expectations of the church and the experience and boundaries of the family.

This is what April Beth and Jonathan talk about, the healthy ways to be a pastor’s family in relationship with a congregation.

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Next Episode – Suzanne Ross, religious freedom, messy faith and what we’re into